Angel Cake
by mishasbabyminion
Summary: For the AU "Is that really what you want us to write on your custom ordered cake?"


It might not be the manliest occupation in the world, but Dean absolutely loved his mom's bakery. When she had passed away two years earlier, it was explicitly written in her will that Dean was to take over her prized shop, _Angel Cakes._

Dean practically grew up in that shop. From an early age, he followed on the tails of her apron, tasting cakes and playing in frosting, perfecting his own secret chocolate peanut butter super cookies along the way. He knew every nook and cranny of the shop, from the heavy black monster of a mixer in the back that Mary used to make her bread dough to the tray of day-olds that were left out to sell at a discounted price on a rack in the corner of the shop.

Dean loved his job.

He kept a reasonable business, even after his mom was gone and it fell to him to make sure that his dad wasn't drinking himself to death, make sure that Sammy went to school and had money in savings for college or a car or whatever he wanted to do with his life.

All in all, Dean had a hard life but he loved every minute of it.

The day started off just like any other. Dean got to the shop at a quarter until six to prep for opening at seven. He fired up the ovens and popped in the muffins, scones, and cinnamon rolls that he prepped the night before. Then he poured oil in the fryer and started to make his famous original style glazed doughnuts while everything else was in the oven.

At six fifteen, his best friend and sous chef, Charlie Bradbury, came in to start cleaning counters, tables, and the bar that looked back into the kitchen for today's service, after setting the coffee pots to brew, of course.

"I think that we should offer more than strictly Americano," she said as she slurped on her mug. "I mean, we have regulars that drink it every day, but this young crowd likes all of the fancy _artisanal_ coffees."

"Charlie, are you suggesting that I go dark side and start competing with _Starbucks?"_ Dean asked incredulously. "The whole point of _Angel Cakes_ is that it's not in the same league as those yuppie coffee chains. This is a home-style, homegrown bakery. Something that reminds you of your grandma's kitchen the second that you walk in the door."

Charlie rolled her eyes and plopped down at the bar to watch Dean artfully arrange the freshly prepared, overly sugared breakfast treats. "I'm just saying that we could get a younger crowd if we offered the fancy coffees and hooked up some Wi-Fi."

Dean just glared at her before telling her, "Go flip the sign to open and pull the coffee mugs and foam travel cups out. It's time to get this ball rolling."

Dean walked back behind the display counter, put on a fresh apron and his best smile, ready to meet the line of regulars already starting to make their way into the shop.

God, he loved his job.

Castiel woke up late, he managed to burn himself on his teakettle, and he had forgotten that he needed to order a cake for his brother's birthday party later that afternoon. All in all, it was not a good day for him.

While he was trying to put on his tie and lace his shoes at the same time, his older sister Anna called him.

"Now is not the time, Anna," he said instead of a greeting, running out of his house with his shoes half tied and his tie on backwards.

"Good morning to you too, Cas," she said sarcastically. "I was just wondering if you had picked up Gabe's cake yet or if I needed to be the one to pick it up."

"Anna I haven't even _ordered_ the thing yet!" Castiel said frantically. "I have no idea who's going to be able to do a birthday cake for King Candy himself in less than nine hours, let alone had time to worry about when I'm supposed to pick the thing up."

There was a pause on the phone and Castiel could practically hear his sister rolling her eyes at him.

"Why didn't you order it last week like I told you to, Cas?" she asked, sounding highly annoyed.

"I broke up with Meg last week, remember?" he shot back, putting the car in gear to begin his search to find a bakery. It was a good thing that he wasn't scheduled to work at the hospital today; he wouldn't be able to find a vein let alone intubate someone. "I really couldn't remember to order a birthday cake while she was throwing her shoes at me."

"Oh," Anna said softly. "Well, do you want me to take care of the cake so that you have time to clean and decorate?"

"No, I've got it, Anna," Castiel said, smiling softly at his sister's thoughtfulness. "Can you be over at my house at about noon to help, though? I think I'll need help cooking since most of the party food is chocolate based."

"No problem, Castiel," Anna laughed into the phone. "Hey, have you thought of going to _Angel Cakes_ for Gabe's cake?"

"No, what's that?" Castiel steered himself into a halfway full parking lot so that he could get instructions from Anna.

"It's that cute little bakery that mom always took us to when we were kids," she explained. "Remember? Mom's old friend Mary used to own it before she got cancer. Now I think her son is in charge of it."

"That actually sounds like a great idea, Anna. Thank you," Castiel said. "Especially if mom took us there and Gabriel liked it."

"It was sugar," she said with a giggle. "Of course Gabriel liked it."

"Hey, where is this place?" Cas asked, trying to find his GPS in his glove compartment.

"Well, it's right off of Celestial. Right next to Singer Auto and Collision?"

Cas looked up from his search, finally noticing where exactly he was. "I guess I'm already here then," he said with a shrug. "I'll see you later, Anna."

The door chimed as yet another customer walked in. The shop was thriving and Dean was in his element.

"Welcome to _Angel Cake!_ " he exclaimed with a smile. No matter how often he said that a day, he never got tired of using the personal connection that his mother had employed when she owned the shop. "How can we get you your own little slice of heaven today?"

The man standing in front of him looked bewildered, his tie turned backwards and his trench coat falling limply around him.

"Hello," the man said in a deep voice. "I'm actually here to acquire about a rush order birthday cake."

Dean held back a groan; of course it was going to be one of those kind of orders. "What can I do for you and when do you need it by?" he asked nicely, keeping the smile forced to his face. It seemed the other man didn't even notice.

"I forgot to order my older brother's birthday cake last week because of personal issues," the man explained, "and my older sister told me that our mother used to bring us here all of the time before the shop's original owner got sick."

Dean tensed up, not expecting his mother to be brought up by this complete stranger. Instead of mentioning the tension seeping into the conversation, the other man continued.

"So if it's possible, I would like to order a chocolate cake with strawberry icing for my brother Gabriel," he finished. "He really likes this bakery, according to my sister."

Dean relaxed; at least it wasn't one of those people who wanted four different flavors with a different icing on each layer. That would take him a while.

"Okay," he said with a grin, "now we're getting somewhere. Why don't you and I pull up a chair and start talking about what exactly you need for the order. I'm Dean, by the way. Owner of _Angel Cake_."

"Oh, my sister mentioned that Mary's son took over for her, is that you?" when Dean nodded, the other man smiled and continued. "My name is Castiel Novak. Apparently my mother and your mother were good friends."

"Is your mom's name Becky?" Dean asked, trying to figure out if he knew the man before him. He knew that he knew the name Novak from somewhere.

"Yes," Castiel answered. "And my father is Chuck."

"Hey, you work with my brother Sam at the hospital, don't you?" Dean finally placed the connection. "My brother is one of the on-site lawyers at Lady of Mercy. You're that doctor who's been making a name for himself by helping abuse victims, aren't you?"

Castiel blushed and decided that he should probably steer the conversation back to Gabriel. "Yes, I am," he stated, not elaborating. "Anyway, I need a standard size sheet cake to feed at least twenty five people. Possibly picked up tonight at about six? If that's possible, of course."

Dean smiled, because of course he would do anything for the doctor who had helped a few friends of his a while back.

"That's not a problem!" Dean said, writing down the order on the back of a napkin. "Do you want anything special on top of the cake? A message or anything?"

Castiel seemed to be considering his options. "I would like it to say 'it is your birthday' in white letters, please," he requested.

"Seriously?" Dean asked with a laugh. "Out of everything that you could have chosen, _that's_ what you want?"

Glaring, Castiel sighed at Dean. "It is to get back at him for what he did to me on my birthday last year when he wrote 'could have gotten strippers' on the top of my cake."

Dean started laughing, shaking his head at the antics. "You got it, man. One 'it is your birthday' cake coming up. I'll call you when it's ready, if that's okay with you?"

He left the suggestion open on purpose; usually Charlie handled orders and deliveries so that he could close up shop.

Castiel quickly scrawled his number on the same napkin that Dean was using for his order. "I wish I could stay, but I have to go get cooking for this party. How much do I owe you?"

"Twenty five," Dean said, back in business mode. "If you want us to deliver the cake so that it doesn't get messed up, it'll be ten extra."

Castiel nodded. "You know, that actually sounds like the better option," he said, grabbing another napkin off of the counter to scrawl his number on. "Here is my address, the party starts at six thirty and you're more than welcome to stay for food if you would like."

Just like that, he had handed over the cash for the cake, delivery, and a relatively sizable tip to Dean and was out the door.

It looked like Dean had plans for tonight.

The party was just starting up, and Castiel was already drinking. Every major social event that he had to deal with, he ended up consuming copious amounts of alcohol.

On the other hand, Gabriel was loving all of the attention that the party was giving him. The only problem was that Dean had not arrived with the cake yet and Anna was starting to shoot murderous looks his way.

"I promise that I ordered it and it's being delivered, Anna," Cas said with a slightly slurred sigh.

Just as Anna was getting ready to argue with Castiel again, the doorbell rang and Castiel raised his eyebrows in an "I told you so" manner before going to answer it.

"Hello, Dean," Castiel said as he opened the door. "Anna was about to murder me, but you saved me by bringing the cake with you."

"Um, hey Cas," Dean said awkwardly. "Where can I go set this down? It's kind of heavy, you know."

"Oh!" Castiel exclaimed, finally noticing the box perched in Dean's arms. "Follow me to the kitchen. GABE! The cake is here!"

When the box was set down and opened by Dean, everyone who had decided to follow and crowd around the two men started laughing at the monotonous typeface presented on the top of the cake.

"Thanks, Cas," Gabriel said sarcastically. "I can feel your enthusiasm seeping off of this cake."

Castiel laughed before handing over the knife to Gabriel so that he could cut it. "It's better than what you did for me, big brother," he said. "Now cut this awesome looking cake and feed your guests."

Then, he did the strangest thing. Castiel grabbed Dean's hand and dragged him from the room, grabbing two more beers on his way out and flopping them down on the couch.

"Thank you for saving the day, Dean," he said, grinning up at the other man stupidly.

"That's my job, I guess," Dean joked. "Saving hungry Gabriels, one clump of frosting at a time.

Castiel giggled, the alcohol in his system taking over as he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Dean's lips. "Well, you make a great super hero, Angel Cake."

Dean just rolled his eyes, and pulled Cas in for another kiss.

Yeah, they both had plans for that night, and those plans really didn't involve birthday parties or chocolate cake.


End file.
